Bom Dia! I’d love to continue in Portuguese but after one week in Portugal, that’s all I can muster. Sad, but true. Egg tarts I can seriously get behind. Ronaldo? I mean, the guy has an ego the size of Everest but he defies gravity when it comes to executing a perfect scissor kick. But Portuguese, the language? Identifying the language as something between Russian and Spanish is pretty much as close as it gets.

But let’s get back on track. Last summer, I was lucky enough to enjoy a 7-day girly getaway to sunny, stunning Portugal. Over the past couple of years, I’d heard whispers of people’s travels to Portugal and how much they absolutely loved their time there. Rumour had it that Portugal was still less expensive than it’s neighbour to the north (and east) but just as accessible.

Untouched and more preserved than typical tourist hot-spots like Rome, Barcelona, Paris or Madrid, it reportedly had a hopping night life and plenty to keep you occupied during daylight hours. It was steeped in history and diverse in it’s geography. And to top it all off, it is best known for it’s exclusive production of port, of which I am a very, very big fan. I was sold. Continue reading “Bom Dia! One Week in Portugal – Port Tasting in Vila Nova de Gaia”→

When my husband and I decided to book a family holiday – just the 3 of us for the first time in 3 years – I was over the moon. I started planning months in advance, imagining us renting a car and driving around Ireland or drinking gallons of Spanish wine and ordering plates of tapas in the heart of Barcelona.

But mid-daydreaming I realized that, more often than not, I’m the one who gets really, excited about where we’re going. So I turned to my husband and asked where he would like to go. He paused. Then finally, after much internal deliberation, he sent me a message that read: Poland. And just like that we’d booked flights into Munich and onto Warsaw, and out of Krakow.

Did you know? 3 Facts About Warsaw

Warsaw is the capital city of Poland and has been since 1596. It is also the largest!

Warsaw, once described as the Paris of the East, was known as one of the world’s most beautiful cities German invasion of WWII in 1939 which left to over 85% of its building in ruins

The Soother Fairy. He (sometimes she) sneaks into the rooms of unsuspecting toddlers while they’re at preschool, daycare, or maybe Grandma’s house, total unbeknownst the tragedy about to befall them. The tragedy of course being the theft of every soother in the house in exchange for a pile of extravagant, guilt-driven gifts and sugary treats. It’s sad yes. But the Soother Fairy isn’t without good reason.

He/She must distribute the soothers collected from big boys and girls to all the little babies who are in desperate need of their fix. If not from the Soother Fairy, than from who? And if not at the exact moment that mom and dad were starting to get worried about the onset of early addiction… when?

You’ve not heard of the Soother Fairy? That’s because I made him up. The concept occurred to me as the only possible way out of a screaming match that I was sure to lose. Our daughter has been something of a “delicate” sleeper (that’s putting it lightly) since the minute she escaped the womb, so despite our best convictions (after hours and hours… and hours of crying) that baby got plugged. It sort of worked sometimes, and then she got older and it sort of worked a little more often. Continue reading “You’ve Never Heard of the Soother Fairy?”→